WEDDING

Real Columbus Wedding: Taylor and Levi Jacob Marry Amid a “Summer Blues” Color Palette

At the ceremony, Taylor opted to walk down the aisle solo, as her father had passed away unexpectedly three years before. She honored him by carrying a pendant of his ashes on her bouquet.

Columbus Monthly

Newlyweds Taylor and Levi Jacob walk into their reception with that "just married" glow on their faces.

Who: Taylor and Levi Jacob

When: July 22, 2023

The story: Taylor (Williams) Jacob and Levi Jacob both grew up in Johnstown, but an age gap meant that the pair didn’t really begin to cross paths through mutual friends until Levi moved home post-college and Taylor began attending Ohio University. Eventually, Levi gathered the courage to ask her to dinner at the former rooftop restaurant Juniper (now the wedding venue Revery at North 4th Corridor) in January 2018.

Taylor fell hard on that first date–literally. She took a tumble down a flight of stairs at the very start of their evening. Fortunately, the rest of the date was filled with nonstop, easily flowing conversation. Taylor returned to OU; three months later, they made it official.

“Before, I would’ve never done a long-distance relationship, but for whatever reason, we made it work,” Levi says. “It was worth it.” Taylor graduated early in December 2019 and moved back home herself.

Eventually, Levi knew it was time to visit an old friend: Yusef Sadiq, owner of Y Sadiq Diamond in Gahanna. The pair had gotten acquainted when Y Sadiq was based in Worthington Mall, next to the toy store where Levi worked while in college. Together they designed a ring based on a previous “try-on” shopping excursion Levi and Taylor had taken.

Levi popped the question in January 2022 while on a ski trip with friends in Lake Tahoe, with assistance from a member of their group who happened to be a professional photographer. They set their date for July 22, 2023, and got to planning.

At the ceremony, Taylor opted to walk down the aisle solo, as her father had passed away unexpectedly three years before. But her mother surprised her with a small pendant containing some of her father’s ashes, which she carried on her bouquet. “It was an emotional moment for us,” Taylor recalls. “She explained, ‘I knew that you wanted to walk down the aisle by yourself because you didn't want anyone to take Dad's place, but this is my way of letting him be there with you.’”

Taylor’s wedding band also helps connect her to her late father, as it contains the diamonds from the ring he gave her mother. When they initially brought the idea of creating a ring with these stones to Sadiq, he warned them that matching vintage diamonds to the new stones in Taylor’s engagement ring might prove challenging, if not impossible.

“Once I brought in the diamonds and we were looking at them, he was like, ‘I’ve never seen this before, but they’re a perfect match,’” Taylor recalls.

Aside from the wedding itself, both Taylor and Levi say that getting ready that morning with their wedding party was a highlight of the day. And of course, “Seeing all the people that we love and cherish the most, all in one space, and getting to celebrate us with them,” Taylor says.

The Jacobs will have more to celebrate soon, too: They’re expecting their first child in early May.